The Cyclops: A Retelling of The Odyssey
by Mistress Jakira
Summary: The Cyclops part of Homer's Odyssey retold in flashback from Polyphemus (the Cyclops)'s POV. It's set in verse in imitation of the original. PG for some mythical man-eating and eye-gouging violence. *g*


Please see the pronunciation key near the bottom of the page if you have trouble with a word!! If you can't pronounce it, it's probably a Greek name which I have included in the key--especially the names of gods. It will help _immensely _when trying to capture the rhyme/rhythm of a line(s). Thank you and happy reading!**_~MJ_** **__**

  
**_The Cyclops_**   
_Told Through the...Eye of Polyphemus_

That fateful night,   
tending to my firelight,   
poking and prodding the rising flame,   
I heard a strange voice call my name.   
Milking my livestock since dawn that day,   
I had not expected a visitor today,   
especially a seafaring human who   
had been blown away, along with his crew,   
and I felt, my stomach hung'ring,   
from within me come a great rumbling.   
The leader, unnamed, stepped up before me,   
said 'we were blown off course on the Great South Sea,'   
told me the gods demanded of me   
that I give him gifts—to show courtesy,   
and I, offended, refused. 

'You are a ninny!*'   
I told the man, so small and skinny,   
and hungering already for their flesh,   
'twas hard to keep from devouring this unwanted guest.   
'I tell you, pompous one, we Cyclopes,   
take orders from no one, not Zeus nor Ares,   
nor great Hephaestus, nor fearsome Deimos,   
so what makes you think you, no matter how famous   
or great, have a right to order me?'   
My hunger masked,   
I calmed and casually I asked   
where the ship of these men might be,   
not knowing yet that I would be deceived. 

It sank,   
the stranger told me, on the bank   
of my island. Disappointed, I grunted,   
for it seemed he had no more ship to be hunted,   
no more of his crew to fix for a meal,   
and no loot that I could steal.   
So I picked up a few members of his crew   
and, just to show contempt, I didn't boil them in stew,   
but rather ate them all alive—   
their captain's look was horrified!   
'That'll teach him,' I thought to myself. 

Hard-hearted   
was this captain, though, as the next day he started   
up toward me once more. He said he had a gift for me,   
and, sure that I'd frightened him, I was pleased.   
His men brought wine in a great iron cask,   
and to thank him, I said I would eat him last.   
The wine, so fiery and thick,   
was such that I could not help but lick   
my lips and call for more,   
and as I had moved the stone blocking the door,   
to allow my just-milked does and ewes,   
after a long morn, passage through,   
this deceptive seafarer saw to trick me;   
when I asked his name, he replied "Nobody"...   
I must've been drunk to believe it. 

The very next thing   
I remember from there must've been seeing   
the faintest flash of olive branch,   
and I felt my face suddenly blanch.   
I screamed and ferociously I roared   
in pain from the blow of this wooden sword,   
which had seared my eyelash and its lid,   
and plunged straight through the eye within.   
I felt it bubble and heard it hiss—   
something was dreadfully amiss—   
I pulled that spike out of my one eye,   
knowing already I'd lost my sight   
forever. I was overcome with rage   
and, groping, I began a mad rampage,   
calling out for this captain Nobody,   
ready to make a horrific, bloody   
mess of his body and those of his men,   
vengeful of the sight I would never have again...   
and I heard my comrades calling. 

Other Cyclopes   
who occupy this island called to me:   
'Polyphemus, what ails thee?   
My friend, I fear we are trying to sleep.   
Has something happened to the sheep   
or goats that thou hast tried to keep,   
or has someone meddled with thee this night?   
Polyphemus, art thou all right?'   
And always shall I remember my reply:   
'Nobody's taken my single eye   
that lies upon my brow! Nobody's trickery   
has done this; he liquored me   
and robbed me of my pride!' 

I did not see   
what a mistake saying that could be.   
'Well, if nobody has ruined thee...'   
my fellow Cyclops replied, wearily,   
'We mean you no disdain,   
but pray to Poseidon to aid thy pain;   
for we need our rest this night,   
to prepare for Dawn's too-early light.'   
With that they retired to their caves,   
never to realize the trick that these knaves   
had played on me without warning. 

And so they,   
with their pride and captain sailed away—   
and Nobody revealed to me   
at that last moment his true identity   
as Odysseus, great Ithacan king;   
I heard his voice victoriously sing   
his own arrogant praise.   
I never saw the sails raise   
when he left that night;   
I tried throwing rocks, but without my sight   
I missed my target each time. 

I prayed   
then to my father that Odysseus would pay;   
I prayed he never reach the shore,   
but if Fate decided that he come home once more   
that far be that happy day,   
let it be many dark years away.   
Let him return under strange sail,   
let him return, but to no avail   
and bitter days at home. 

I am the Cyclops of ancient myth,   
with a single broiled eye, forced to live with   
this blindness inflicted by a sea captain who   
came ashore on my island, along with his crew.   
Son of Poseidon, my name is Polyphemus   
I lived even before Romulus and Remus,   
before Philip or Alexander the Great,   
but only one thing has made me so irate   
throughout all my days:   
that I didn't make that captain pay.   
King of Ithaca, son of Laertes,   
destroyer of cities and favored by Ares,   
the fiery god of war...   
I prayed that he see his home no more.   
For the rest of my days now I'm doomed to regret   
that when I could have killed him, instead I let   
him live a moment longer. 

*_This line can actually be found in the translation of _The Odyssey _in my English textbook; I agree it's kind of ridiculous, but it was nonetheless a memorable line, so I thought I'd use it._

* * *

**_Pronunciation Key_**   
Cyclopes (SYE-klo-peez)|Ares (air-EEZ)|Hephaestus (heh-FES-tus)|Laertes(lay-AIR-teez)|   
Deimos (DAY-mos)|Poseidon (po-SYE-dun) 

* * *

**Author's Notes: **This is my first and only _Odyssey _fic! *laughs* I chose to do it for school--most of the choices were really lousy, and this looked like it could be fun. The assignment was: "Imagine that you are one of the creatures Odysseus met. Retell the adventues from _this _creature's point of view. Include thoughts and feelings the creature would have. Write the events in chronological order." Obviously, I chose the Cyclops Polyphemus. I don't think anyone else wrote theirs in verse. *feels special and superior* LOL...j/k. I had my textbook by my side the whole time, so nothing should be inaccurate--though it may jump around quite a bit due to the fact that the textbook didn't include the entire _Odyssey_. Which, to me, is unfortunate, but anyway...   
I think you see the rhyme scheme (and how it breaks at the last line), so no need to explain that. I don't know whether it rhymed in the original Greek version (I doubt it did) and if it did I didn't know what kind of scheme was used, so I made up my own. I don't know why the huge spaces starting out every verse are there, so don't ask me--I just copied the format from my text to make it look more authentic (though I wish I'd had a copy of the original Greek for that very purpose).   
Well, I hope you liked this retelling of the Cyclops story from a new point of view (it's rather original if I do say so myself). If there's anything you have to say--anything at all (let's try to keep it clean, however ^_^;)--then please don't hesitate to drop a review by me! Or an e-mail, or whatever is comfortable for you. ^_^ Thanks a bunch for reading!! ~MJ 


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